


Siren Song

by Anonymous



Category: Supernatural
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-03
Updated: 2015-03-03
Packaged: 2018-03-16 02:15:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3470639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It had started off as a whirlwind romance.<br/>She never meant- or even thought- that this could happen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Siren Song

**Author's Note:**

> Based on two Tumblr comments, one by cynassa and one by beenworkingonacocktail

It had started off as a whirlwind romance.

She never meant- or even thought- that this could happen.

When she had first met Dean, they were both only 16. She could sense that the boy playing pool was definitely _not_ 21 years old, and he was obviously depressed, so she had sauntered over, told the other men to leave (and who were they to ignore her? She was the damn owner’s daughter), and picked up the pool cue to continue the game for them.

“Something on your mind?” She lined up the shot and let the cue do its magic, making a damn near impossible shot effortlessly. She turned to look at the boy. He looked her up and down with a confused expression on his face, one also of slight indignity.

“I was about to hustle a lot of money out of them, you know that?” was the only thing he said.

She shrugged her shoulders. “No you weren’t. They’re broke.”

He frowned momentarily, before extending his hand to her. “I’m Dean. Who are you, because you sure don’t look like you’re 21.”

“Neither do you. I’m Vera. My mom owns the bar.” She smirked, but took his hand. His thoughts ghosted across her mind at the skin contact. She could sense he was a devoted brother who was trying to get some money to buy food. Vera felt momentarily bad about ruining his scam, but she was right about the other men not having any money. It really wouldn’t have made a difference. She could also sense that he admired her, but was hung up on a girl named Robin.

“Tell me, why are you here Dean? Other than to scam broke patrons, that is.”

He shrugged in response, lining up his cue and sinking his own ball into the corner pocket. They weren’t really playing the game anymore, just alternating shots for fun. She didn’t really know why it was, but many people opened up to her, and Dean was no exception.

“I needed money to get food for my brother.” Dean went to take another shot, but Vera beat him to it. The ball landed in another corner, and she continued.

“Why are you so sad?” She, of course, already knew the answer. She just wanted to see if Dean would continue to tell her about himself.

He missed his next shot, and Vera could see a flash of pain on his face before he covered it with a mask of indifference. “Is it that obvious?” She nodded once sympathetically. “I uh, left some people behind. My dad moves around a lot for his job, so I wasn’t able to stay with them. The moment we got here, he was gone again. I don’t know when he’ll be back.”

“Well, you’re here with me now.” She tried to smile encouragingly, and was happy when he smiled back at her. “Tell you what. You bring your brother here, and we’ll get him some food. You too, if you’ll accept it.”

He looked up at her, hesitance shining in his green eyes. Vera had never seen eyes so green.

“Sure.” Dean finally said, straightening out of his playing crouch to lean against the table. “How much will it cost?”

“Nothing.” Vera took the pool cue from Dean, setting it down on the table with hers. “Not everything comes with a price.”

“It does in my experience,” Dean mumbled, “but thank you.” He turned and left the bar at a jog, and would be returning within ten minutes with a 12 year old boy who would instantly love Vera. At that moment though, Vera was too busy watching him leave to realize that the price of her offer would be a steep one.

* * *

A week later she kissed him for the first time.

She was sure there was some insane part of her, because she didn’t even know his last name yet, but that didn’t really cross her mind until she no longer had her arms wrapped around his neck and his lips on hers.

She really should have found out his last name the night they first met.

He was even attending the same high school as her. Granted, they didn’t have any classes together, but it seemed like she would have found it out at some point.

It wasn’t until the two of them were curled together on her couch with Sam in a nearby chair nearly two months later that the topic was even brought up.

“Hey Vera, are you ever gonna tell me your last name? I mean seriously, you invited Sammy and I to stay in your guest room on the same night you met us, but neither of us even really know the other.”

She turned her head and kissed him quickly. “I don’t know. I like to think we know each other,” she said with a coy smile, “but if you really must know, my full name is Vera Louise. And what about you Dean? Is your last name secretly Martin?”

He smiled at her humor softly, and Vera could see some deep emotion residing in his eyes. She wondered if she looked the same. “My last name is actually Winchester.”

Vera felt her breath catch in her throat, panic rising up in her chest like a flood. She forced herself not to look terrified, but it was hard when her heart was fluttering like caged bird. She smiled through her terror. “Like the gun?” She could swear her voice was wavering, but Dean didn’t seem to notice.

“Yep. Hey are you okay? You’re looking a little pale.” She was saved from having to respond when Dean’s cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket quickly, almost dropping it in his haste to answer.

“Hello?” Vera watched in apprehension as Dean’s face fell and his shoulders slumped. “Yes sir. I understand sir.” He paused for a moment. “We’ll wait for you at Main and 5th.” He pulled the phone away from his ear and ended the call without looking.

“Dean?” Vera was still nervous, but it was obvious Dean didn’t know about her. Yet, at least.

“It’s my dad. He finished his job, and wants Sammy and I ready to go in an hour. He said he already has another one lined up in California.”

Vera could see that Dean was trying to remain strong for his brother, but he looked like he was ready to cry. She remembered how only a few months back he had to say goodbye to another girl because of his father, and she forgot all of her fears for a moment. She drew his face to hers and gave him a soft, lingering kiss. When she pulled back, his eyes were closed and a single tear fell down his cheek. She wiped it away with the pad of her thumb.

“I don’t want to leave again.” He whispered, opening his eyes slowly to look at her. Vera didn’t know what to say, so she remained silent. “I-” He cut off, taking a shaky breath before beginning again. “I think I might love you.”

Vera felt her own eyes begin to water, and she pulled back just enough to look at Sam. “Go start packing your things, Sam.” Sam looked like he wanted to protest, but he did as he was instructed anyway. Vera turned back to Dean.

“Say something, please.” Dean begged of her, his voice broken because of a simple phone call.

Vera didn’t know what to say. She was still scared because she had been conditioned from a young age to fear the name Winchester. However, in the past two months, she had found nothing in Dean but kindness, and she doubted that he would ever hurt her. Instead of speaking, she pulled him to her again, burying his face in her neck as he began to let more tears fall.

“Shhh…” she whispered, rocking him slightly while stroking his hair. “It will turn out okay. Trust me on that.”

They stayed like that for half an hour before Dean needed to go pack his things. It killed her to do so, but the moment he was gone, she opened his phone and deleted her number. She might trust Dean, but she did not trust his father in the slightest.

Dean came back with Sam into their living room a few minutes later, bags full of all the things she had gotten for them as well as what they had come with. Dean had stopped his tears, leaving only red eyes, but now Sam had taken his place with a steady stream. Vera picked him up and swung him around in a hug.

“Don’t worry Sam. We’ll see each other again one day. Who knows? Maybe you’ll stop by again if your father finds a job here.”

She set him down, taking one of his hands and one of Dean’s as they walked downstairs to the bar. It was only noon and hadn’t opened yet, so Vera’s mother was wiping down the counter on their right. She watched with sad understanding as they walked by.

“Dean, wait.” She called, before walking over to the cash register and relieving it of several twenties. “Here.” She tucked the wad of bills into Dean’s duffel, pulling both him and Sam into brief goodbye hugs. “In case you ever find yourself in need again.”

Dean let go of Vera’s hand to hug her mother again tightly. “Thank you,” he whispered, “for everything you’ve done for my brother and me.”

She nodded and smiled sadly again, returning to her post at the empty counter. Vera took Dean’s hand again, waited for him to start walking, and followed.

The corner of Main and 5th was just down the road from the bar, so they reached it in just over five minutes, and only had to wait for another two until an Impala pulled up next to the three. Dean and Sam had to let go of Vera to put their things in the trunk, and in those few seconds, the passenger side window rolled down.

“Who are you?” a gruff voice called. Vera wanted to run, but instead forced herself to crouch slightly to look inside.

“My name is Vera. Sam and Dean have been staying with my mom and me in the bar down the road, and we’ve also been giving them rides to school. You happened to sign them up for the school I go to.”

“Why weren’t they at the motel?” he asked, eyes narrowing suspiciously.

“The motel costs 48 bucks a night, Mr. Winchester. Our home above the bar is free.”

The suspicion lessened, but didn’t disappear completely. “Thanks, then. And please, call me John.” If there was any lingering doubt about who Dean was, it vanished with those three words, but Vera could be foolish sometimes, so she ignored the fear climbing into her again in order to berate him.

“If it’s all the same with you, I think I’ll stick with Mr. Winchester, especially if you won’t even let your own sons call you anything other than Sir.”

Vera straitened and walked to the back of the car just as Dean slammed the trunk closed. She ruffled Sam’s hair as he passed, and the moment the door was closed she pulled Dean close to kiss him. Both of them were crying silently at this point, but both also knew there was nothing either could do to stop him from leaving.

She pulled back just enough to whisper against him. “I think I might love you too.” She rested her forehead against his with closed eyes, each of them breathing each other’s air until the car horn went off.

“Hurry up, Dean. We need to be in California by tomorrow.”

He kissed her briefly one more time. “I’m sorry.” He murmured once, before stepping away and getting into the front seat of the Chevy. He met her eyes in the side view mirror and held her gaze as his dad drove them away. She stayed standing there for several minutes after the car had disappeared into the horizon, before starting the trek back to the bar.

Her mother was still wiping down the counters, and Vera saw her phone laying there a foot away. She already wanted to call Dean to give him her number again, but she knew she couldn’t. Instead, she opened up her contacts and deleted his before she could change her mind.

“Why did you do that sweetie?” Her mom asked, and Vera almost started crying again.

“I trust him mom, and I think I love him, but I can never talk to him again.” She took a shuddering breath. “I just found out today that his father is John Winchester.”

Vera’s mother gasped. “What?” Vera didn’t have the energy to respond, so instead she just stared at the mobile device laying on the table. “Pack your things.” Her mother ordered, striding over to lock the doors to the bar. “We’re leaving immediately.”

“What? Why?” Vera whirled around to stare at her mother, horrified that even if Dean was to come back, she wouldn’t be here. “He doesn’t know!”

“It doesn’t matter, Vera. It’s still dangerous to stay, or have you forgotten that we’re shifters?”

Vera clenched her teeth together. “No mother. I haven’t forgotten.”

“Then pack your things. We leave in an hour.”

And just like that, their whirlwind romance was over.

* * *

 Years passed, but Vera never could quite forget about Dean Winchester.  It certainly didn’t help that she had become a teacher for the supernatural, and had to listen to the horror stories that her students would tell each other about the brother hunters.

She knew John had died, but her students’ nightmares no longer spoke of him. Now they were of the man she once loved and his kid brother.

Eventually, she was told that new warnings would have to be entered into her curriculum, and her heart broke again at what they were.

_Don’t draw too much attention to yourself or…_ she would say, and her students would finish the warning with _or the Winchesters will find you!_

_Don’t kill humans all in one place or Dean Winchester will find you._

_Stay sporadic or Sam Winchester will find your pattern._

_Behave yourself or the Winchesters will kill you._

She hated teaching these proverbs to young children, but even she had to admit they had become necessary.

She quit her teaching job at the end of the year, moving on from the underground monster society to the human one. She got another job as a bartender, but that didn’t work out too well after she got the news that a hunter had killed her mother in her new bar.

She moved on again.

Next was a job as store clerk, but when a gun shop entitled **_Winchester and Co. Rifles_** opened up next door she resigned again.

She hadn't expected to live through the apocalypse, but somehow she managed to survive. She looked up Dean out of curiosity and found that he had retired from hunting and was living with a woman and her son.

She was happy for him, but she had never quite gotten over him, so she left town again that night. It was her downfall that she hadn’t noticed Sam Winchester down the road.

Months had passed when a knock came on her door. Foolishly she opened it, and her jaw dropped when she saw that it was Sam.

“Oh my god.” She smiled, completely forgetting that she should be terrified, because that was the first time in years that she had seen her friend. She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. He returned the gesture, asking if he could come inside. She only realized it wasn’t Sam when it opened a mouth full of razor sharp fangs and bit her head off.

* * *

 She woke up in a forest, surrounded by unfamiliar faces. She screamed and pushed away, crawling backwards until her back hit another tree.

“Calm down, girlie. Don’t bring attention to us.” A woman ordered.

She had wide eyes but a shut mouth as she stared at her surroundings.

“Where am I?” she finally whispered.

The woman who had spoken before grinned, and Vera could see two rows of fangs in her mouth. _Vampire_.

“You’re in Purgatory, girlie. Welcome to the afterlife.”

* * *

 It took a few days, but eventually she settled into a routine of wake, eat, fight, kill, eat, sleep, repeat. Malekche, the vampire who had first spoken to her, had taken her under her wing and let her join the small band of monsters. Purgatory was a kill or be killed world, and Vera was eternally grateful that Ma had allowed her to defend herself before being killed. She had been told that she would just reform a few hours later, but Vera would still rather avoid the pain of death than experience it again.

A month passed, and then two, and then three, and then came the stories.

_Did you hear, Ma? Apparently a human was dumb enough to get themselves sent to Purgatory. They say he’s looking for an angel._

Vera ignored the rumors for the most part, but after three more months of the nonstop chatter, she finally sat down with the gossipers of their group, two kitsune siblings, and demanded they spill the story.

“There’s a human in Purgatory. He’s the most beautiful and terrifying thing you’ll ever see.” Alicos started, only to be interrupted by his sister.

“And if you ever see him, you should run.”

He growled at her. “Shut up, Alyssa. I’m telling the story.”

Vera smiled in amusement.

“Anyway, his own humanity is a beacon-“

“More like Siren Song if you ask me.”

“Well no one asked you Alyssa.”

She flipped Alicos off, and he huffed before continuing with the story.

“Monsters are fascinated by him and venture closer than they should. He kills them.”

“They dash against his rocks.” Alyssa sighed dreamily, as if she was considering doing it just for the chance to see him. “You shall love him and despair.”

Vera was curious by this point, but she passed it off as lack of decent entertainment up until this point. “Who is he?” she asked.

“The elder Winchester boy, Dean.” Vera paled. “I take it you knew him while you were alive.” She nodded at Alyssa, not even sure if it was she or Alicos who was asking.

Alicos spoke, interrupting her lack of thought. “Last I heard, he was headed with the vampire Benny towards some portal out of Purgatory.”

Vera’s head whipped up sharply. “There’s a portal out of here?”

“Only for humans, unfortunately.” Alyssa began again. “Benny claims he knows some spell that will get him out too, but he used to be a pirate. I think he’s just bluffing about it.”

Vera turned to her. “Where is this portal supposedly located?”

“In the Leviathan Territory. I doubt they’re going to make it all the way there, even with the help of that angel they have with them.”

Vera stood up, rushing away from the campfire the three had been sitting around. She began gathering her things swiftly, dumping everything except her blade into a leather sack.

“Girlie, whatchu doin’?” she heard Ma call, but she ignored the vampire in order to swipe a second blade from inside a tree hollow.

She felt someone whirl her around and came face to face with Ma.

“I’m sorry, Ma, but I have to go. Dean is… and old friend. I want to help him.”

Ma scrutinized her. “Are you sure? Is this human worth it?”

Vera nodded. “He’s very important to me.”

Ma dropped her hand from Vera’s shoulder. “If ya say so, girlie. Just don’ getcha self killed now, you hear?”

“Yes, Ma. Thank you. If you ever do run into my mom, tell her I’m off helping a Winchester again.”

“Will do.”

And with that, Vera was sprinting into the woods alone, straight for the Leviathan.

* * *

 A month later she could tell she was close. The feel of humanity was echoing from Dean, along with a Celestial energy that could only have been his angel. She would catch up to them within a day.

* * *

 It was nearing nightfall by the time she heard their voices up ahead.

If she wanted to introduce herself without the threat of being killed, then she needed to do it before the sun dipped below the horizon. The problem was, now that she was faced with seeing Dean again, she suddenly didn’t want to. He had never found out that she was a shifter, at least she thought he never did, and she wasn’t too damn happy to be facing the consequences of that now.

The choice was taken away from her though when she was tackled to the ground by another monster.

She screamed in hopes it would startle the creature, but it wasn’t enough for her to get an advantage over it. She could tell it was a wendigo from the thoughts racing through its head, but here in Purgatory, she didn’t need fire to kill it. Everything here could die in any way possible, so all Vera really needed to do was stab it. However, when she had been tackled, her blade had been knocked out of her hands.

As she rolled around trying to dislodge the creature, her sack came off. It was almost perfect because that was when the wendigo got the upper hand, pinning her to the ground with its body and wrapping its long skeletal fingers around her throat. Her bag was within reach, and she slipped her hand inside without it noticing, wrapping her own fingers around her spare blade. She thrust it up into the wendigo’s chest, grimacing as hot blood dribbled out and down onto her before the body vanished.

She rolled over to her side, coughing now that she was finally able to breathe again, but she swore when she realized she couldn’t hear Dean’s voice anymore. That was when the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She leapt to her feet, crouched low for greater balance, and sensed that she was being surrounded.

Her breathing quickened in anticipation, but as she turned around to asses more of her surroundings, one of her attackers leapt from right where she just stopped looking. He surprised her, managing to push her back against a tree before she could defend herself. An arm was across her shoulders, keeping her pinned, and a long blade was at her throat. The most important thing to Vera though was the green eyes belonging to the one attacking her.

“Dean,” she breathed, unable to say it any louder for fear of him slicing her throat without any more delay. His humanity rolled off of him in waves, no part of it threatened from being in Purgatory.

“How do you know me?” He growled, and Vera wanted to laugh, because there were so many answers to give.

“I know you because you’re the human everyone’s talking about. I know you because monsters are taught to fear the name Winchester and run for their lives if they ever meet someone with it. I know you because-” Vera stopped for a moment, her breaths coming in short gasps in time with her heart. “I know you because you thought you loved me at one point in your life, and I thought that maybe I loved you too, and isn’t that a dangerous thing to feel.”

Dean stared at her for another few moments, but it was clear as day the second he recognized her. “Vera?” he stumbled back, his sword arm still up to cut off her head, even though he was out of range now. She could see his shock and disbelief, but also pain as he relived memories he had probably wanted to forget.

“How are you here?” He stared in confusion at the ground, slowly letting his arm fall to his side. He turned back to her, his eyes capturing hers with a look of despair that she could not turn away from.

“Who did this to you? Who made you a monster? I swear, we’ll get you out and then I’ll hunt them down and make them pay for forcing you to spend your afterlife here.”

Vera smiled sadly, reaching out to cup his cheek softly in her palm. He leaned into the touch, and Vera smiled softly out of familiarity this time.

“Dean, that’s not possible.”

His eyes turned sharp with anger. “Of course it is. You should have lived a long life Vera, free of supernatural shit to screw it up. Yet here you are, spending your eternity in Purgatory?”

“I appreciate the sentiment Dean, but unfortunately there is no one to blame. I was born a shifter.”

Dean stumbled back in shock. “What? But when we met, when we were sixteen, you were…”

Vera nodded softly. “Why do you think I deleted my number from your phone, Dean? I heard your last name for the first time, and knew that your father would probably want to question me.  He did halfway when you were packing the car. I couldn’t risk that he would use the number to track down my mother and I.”

Dean stepped forward again. “Didn’t you trust me?”

“Of course I did,” Vera declared, “and I loved you as well. But I was raised on the horror stories of John Winchester. I simply couldn’t risk it. I wanted to at least stay, but my mother sold the bar and moved us out of state that same day. There was nothing I could do.”

“I went back there once. It had only been three months, and the next job had us traveling through town. I thought I had accidentally deleted your number, and I was hoping that you would call me one day, or that I could get it from you again, but there was some random guy there. I guess now I know why.”

It was then that Vera noticed the angel and vampire standing behind Dean, waiting patiently for him to finish. “Hello. It’s nice to meet you. I’m an old friend of Deans.”

He chuckled sadly. “I’d say you were a little more than that. Come on. We’re getting out of here.”

“Brother,” the vampire drawled, “I don’t know if you can carry two souls out of here.”

“You better hope I can Benny, because between the two of you, Vera’s winning.”

Vera began to gather her things while the vampire and human talked, and smiled when the angel began to help her.

“So who are you? The others at my camp told me of Benny, and I already knew Dean, but all I know about you is that you’re an angel.”

“My name is Castiel. I have been Dean’s friend for over three years, ever since I pulled his soul out of hell.”

Vera dropped her bag in surprise. “What? Dean was in Hell?”

Castiel nodded once. “He sold is soul to bring Sam back to life. Of course, Heaven would have found another way to get him to sell his soul if Sam had lived, but Sam still blames himself, though he doesn’t show it.”

Vera picked her bag back up, turning to face Dean. She wished he had never learned about the supernatural, even if that meant that they would have never met.

“Come on. We better get moving if we want to reach the portal anytime soon. I’m getting really sick of endless forest.” They set off before Dean turned to look at her again. “How exactly did you die? Even knowing now that you’re a shifter, I never imagined that you would be discovered and hunted.”

Vera frowned. She hadn’t thought about her death once since arriving in Purgatory, and she almost didn’t remember it. “I wasn’t killed by a hunter. It was a monster who appeared as Sam. It had a giant mouth and…” She trailed off, trying to remember how she had died. “I think it bit my head off.”

She looked up and pushed her hand out in front of Dean to stop him. “In fact, it looked exactly like that.” She pointed in front of their group. A little ways beyond them, a creature was eating the body of a werewolf, its giant mouth filled only with rows and rows of teeth.

“Dammit.” She heard Dean mumble. “Leviathan. Nasty sons of bitches. Hey Benny, is this the only way to the portal?”

“Unfortunately, it sure is, brother. It should be only another week if we keep our pace. We can continue to sleep in shifts, but it should be in pairs.”

“Agreed.” Dean nodded, and the four travelers continued their journey, slicing the head off of the Leviathan before it even knew they were there.

Vera was nervous as they walked, flinching at every noise not made by one of them. Her month of traveling alone had made her wary, and she saw nonexistent monsters almost everywhere she looked. Wishing to distract her mind, she sped up her steps to fall in line with Dean.

“So…how exactly did you end up in here?”

“Cas and I killed the Leviathan leader. He exploded, and dragged us along with him back here seven months ago. We haven’t seen him yet, and I’m hoping we never do.”

They fell into silence again, but Vera didn’t really mind. They had spent far too many years apart to be able to just pick up where they had left off.

The days passed quickly, each person too focused on any surrounding monsters or Leviathan to really think about anything else. By the time they had reached the glowing blue portal, Vera was so excited to be going home that she didn’t notice Cas’ reluctance, even when she hugged him and glimpsed his thoughts. She remembered Benny teaching Dean how to do the spell and grasping Dean’s forearm, but then she blinked, and she was in another world.

“Vera.” Dean called, and she whirled around to see him standing there, clutching his arm as it glowed red and orange. “Help, please.” He fell to his knees, gasping in pain.

“Dean!” she rushed over and steadied him. “What is it? What do you need?”

“Benny’s bones. Can you drive?” He began to stand up, leaning heavily on her, and she frantically searched for a car. There was a simple pickup parked a few yards away, and she helped him stumble over to the car and into the passenger seat. She rushed back to where she had been and grabbed the shovel lying on the ground, tossing it haphazardly into the truck bed.

“Where are they?” She demanded as she hopped into the driver’s seat. She didn’t bother to put on her seat belt as she tore away from the patch of land where the Leviathan had dumped her body.

“That way.” Dean gasped, raising his hand to direct to her left. She whirled the car around and stepped on the gas. Dean’s pain level decreased when they were on their way, but Vera still glanced nervously at him.

“Why are you in so much pain, Dean?” She let go of the wheel to put on her seatbelt.

“Benny’s bones were in a different direction than yours were, and a human body was only made to contain one soul, not three. His soul is yearning for his body quite insistently.”

Vera nodded, noticing for the first time that the angel wasn’t there. “Where’s Castiel?”

Dean’s expression darkened, making Vera regret asking. “He didn’t make it through.”

They fell into silence for the next couple of hours, save when Dean would tell her to turn onto a different road or take an exit onto a different highway.

It was nearing morning when he finally directed her to pull off onto the side of the road and got out of the car. The moment his feet hit the ground, the light emitting from his arm doubled, and his knees buckled. He hit the ground, groaning.

“Hang in there, brother. We’re almost there.” Vera heard him mumble as she rushed around to meet him again. “There.” He pointed at a patch of empty ground. “Can you dig him up?”

Vera nodded, grabbing the shovel and setting immediately to work. Dean tried to stumble over to help her, but she shut him down, threatening to lock him in the car if he didn’t just sit there and wait.

Within an hour, she had dug several feet down and carefully cleared the excess dirt from the vampire’s bones. “Come on.” She jumped out and crouched low to help Dean over to the grave. He pulled a knife out and sliced his arm, letting the red and orange soul drip out over the bones like blood. Vera grimaced at the wound, but held Dean steady as he chanted the spell. It soaked into the bones and they shimmered. Within seconds, new flesh was erupting around the skeleton, and then Benny’s eyes shot open.

Setting Dean down so he could rest, she offered her hand to the vampire, who grasped it gratefully. She warned him quietly not to ask about Castiel, and he seemed to understand how not everyone had made it out without much explanation.

Wen Dean’s body had recovered from the strain of carrying two souls a minute later, he pulled the vampire into a fierce hug, before promising to keep in touch. Vera understood that they needed to go separate ways, but she hoped that Dean wouldn’t ask her to leave as well.

He didn’t, and Vera was happy.

* * *

 Seeing Sam again made her happy, and she discovered that the Leviathan had attacked her because they had all of Sam and Dean’s memories. When Sam had seen her outside of Dean’s house with Lisa, he had recognized her, bringing those memories of their time with her back near the front of his mind. The Leviathan had wanted to hurt them by killing the people important to them. Vera was just plain lucky she had been a shifter.

Castiel came back somehow, and Vera could tell something was wrong with him. His thoughts were echoed perfectly by his words, tipping her off to that fact that he wasn’t truly in control of his own mind. She told Dean, but they were unable to stop Castiel. He killed his brother, took the tablet, and left.

They still had one tablet though, and as Sam began the trials, Vera began to wonder when the Winchesters had turned into the self-sacrificial creatures that they were. They met Metatron, and with one touch she knew his plan. Later that day, she informed Dean, and a mere hour later, under the guise of forgetting to ask something earlier, they were back in the angels’ presence. He was dead the moment he turned to pick up a book.

Castiel showed up after they got back to their hotel, and was quickly trapped in a ring of fire. Vera joined him in it and grasped his hand. For the first time in years, she shifted her form. The last time she had done that, there had been a hunter on her tail, so she shifted, fled the city, and then shifted back. She rather liked her original body.

Vera left the circle, carefully jumping over the fire before it flared up. Laying down on the cheap bed, she felt a small headache begin as all of Castiel’s millions of years of memory downloaded into her brain. She closed her eyes against the stream, and fell asleep.

When she woke up a few hours later, she knew exactly what was going on with Castiel. _Naomi_ was the first word out of her mouth, and judging by the look of caution on Castiel’s face when he heard it, she was something to fear.

“What of Naomi?” he questioned. “Is she the reason you have trapped me? Let me go- I have done nothing to deserve this!” Castiel’s panic began to override his logic, and he started pacing back and forth in the ring of holy fire.

“Hey, Cas, calm down man. Vera, who is this Naomi?”

Vera scowled. “An angel. She’s been controlling Castiel. His contact with the Angel tablet severed her control, but Crowley stole it and she reestablished her control before he could stop her. She repressed his memories, so he has no clue what she has been doing to him.”

“What are you talking about?” Castiel growled at her, storming from the far side of the ring closer to her. “Naomi would never do something like that. She is a well-respected angel.”

Sam coughed, fallout from the trails not allowing him stop. Everyone was immediately focused on him, try as he might to hide it. Vera wasn’t truly worried about the damage to Sam because of the trials until that moment. As Sam finally stopped, Vera could smell the metallic scent of blood in the air, and she rushed over to the hunter.

“Sam? Hey, Sam. How long have you been coughing up blood?” She could feel Dean’s gaze snap between her and his brother, and it was so distracting that she almost ordered him to leave. If Sam hadn’t said anything before, then he obviously didn’t want anyone to know.

He stayed silent, so Vera reached out to touch his hand. He jerked back, but Vera had grazed his skin just long enough to hear the echo of ‘ _three weeks’_ before she lost contact. She frowned at the hunter, before turning to Dean.

“Three weeks.”

Dean turned worriedly to Sam, who glared at the floor.

“Can we get back to solving Cas’ problems please?”

Dean and Vera shared a look, but they acquiesced to his request. Castiel was pacing, sending angry glares at the trio, distress obvious in his features.

“I suggest that we summon and trap her. It’ll get us right to the bottom of this.”

Dean nodded in agreement, but Vera could see worry still on his face. Worry for Sam, worry for Castiel, and worry that they wouldn’t be able to stop Naomi.

“Just before we do,” Vera trailed off, looking down and gesturing at her body. “I think I’m going to change back. Being Castiel is weird.”

* * *

 The summoning happened quickly, and within five minutes of shifting back to her normal body the Castiel/ Naomi problem was solved. There was an outline of ashy wings on the ground, unfortunately, but Castiel had his memories back and was in control of himself again.

Time passed. They rescued Kevin from Crowley, and stopped Sam from finishing the trials. He was dying, but Castiel volunteered to help save him. Jimmy’s body was stored safely in the bunker, and Sam accepted Castiel into him for three months, before the angel returned to his original vessel.

The only problem left was Abaddon.

Dean went out and foolishly received the Mark of Cain, and slowly began to become more and more violent as time went by.

Vera wanted to help Dean, but she didn’t know how.

A few weeks later, they got a tip on her location, and Dean wanted to set out immediately, but everyone else convinced him to wait until morning.

Dean stormed off to his room, and Vera followed, intent on calming him down.

The door slammed in her face, locked, but she simply broke the handle with her strength and pushed her way in.

“What, Vera?” Dean snapped at her, facing the far wall.

“What the hell are you doing, Dean? This isn’t like you. Everyone else just wants to help, and you’re treating them like they’re the villain.”

Dean ran his hand through his hair, sighing as he turned around to face Vera. His eyes were tied, and she could see just how close to breaking he was, but Vera refused to let that excuse stop her.

“Look, I’m sorry, but I want this over with. We know where Abaddon is, but it seems like everyone except me doesn’t actually want to take her out!” He gesticulated wildly in the direction of the doorway.

“Of course we do. But you’re also scaring us. The Mark is changing you Dean. We don’t want you to not be able to come back.”

Something about the way Vera was speaking made Dean pause, gazing at her as if he was seeing her for the first time. “Do you think I’ll be too far gone? Do you honestly think I can’t do it?”

Vera rushed forward, vigorously shaking her head. “Of course not. I know you can, but at what cost?” She pressed her hands to the side of his face, ignoring the thoughts that were racing through his head. Her voice dropped to a whisper. “I don’t want to lose you. Not again.”

Dean’s eyes searched hers briefly, before he was grabbing her face as well and pulling her into their first kiss in twenty two years. Her hands moved to the back of his neck, pulling him even closer, and Vera stepped forward so that her whole body was touching his.

She began to push him back inch by inch until his knees hit the edge of the bed. He sat down on it, and Vera straddled his lap without breaking contact.

Dean’s hands fell from her face and drifted down her sides until they were clutching at her hips, and Vera pulled away from Dean with a gasp.

His eyes shot open in confusion, and Vera laughed. “Sorry, but I uh… kinda broke your door.” He glanced at the threshold briefly, then joined her laughter with his own.

“Good thing I have a bureau, then.” Vera smiled and slid off of him, walking quickly over to the slightly splintered door. She pushed it to where it would normally be closed and maneuvered Dean’s dresser in front, keeping the room blocked and hopefully everyone else out.

Vera stilled as she felt Dean press up against her, his hands ghosting over her arms and his lips on her neck. She shivered briefly and fiddled with the hem of her shirt, before quickly pulling it over her head and tossing it over her shoulder. She turned to face Dean.

His multiple plaid shirts were already gone, causing Vera to smile and wrap her arms around his neck as she kissed him again. He moved his own arms low to her thighs, swiftly lifting her up so she could wrap her legs around him. He made his way back over to the bed, gently setting her down in the middle and crawling on top of her.

Vera rolled them over, almost off the edge of the bed. “God, I’ve missed you,” she mumbled against his lips.

“I’ve been right here,” he chuckled back at her.

Vera smiled coyly and pulled away from Dean just enough to make him frown. “I think you know what I meant by that.”

“Well, yeah, but I love seeing you smile like that.” He reasoned, and Vera laughed.

“I love _you._ ” Dean whispered, staring up in awe at the shifter. Vera stilled, drawing back to stare at the hunter.

“What?”

Dean immediately looked uncomfortable, like he hadn’t meant to say that out loud.

“I- well.” He sighed despondently. “You were the first girl I ever loved, Vera, but I only got to be with you for two months. Then I found you again, or you found me, and for the past two years I’ve been remembering how it was before the world went to shit. Before my dad made Sam and I leave. Before you died. I found myself falling in love with you again, and unwilling to stop it.”

Vera didn’t know what to say, reminding her of the last time Dean had told her how he felt. Only this time, no one was pulling Dean away from her.

She felt herself smile slightly, and then she was kissing him again.

“How did you manage to hide this from me for so long?”

Dean laughed. “Practice. I ran into another shifter a few years ago, and didn’t know at the time they could skim your thoughts. It almost got me killed, so I learned to think of something else whenever the possibility of a shifter was high. It just came in handy with you.”

“Jerk. I wish I had known. I would’ve done this a long time ago.” Vera sat up on Dean’s lap, moving her hands to unbuckle his jeans. “And for the record, I love you too.”

* * *

 They found Abaddon the next day in a hotel. Crowley was there, snarking about how long it had taken. They all ignored him as Dean removed the first blade from its wrapping and began to attack the Knight of Hell.

Vera and Sam wanted to help, but they ended up only getting in the way. Vera jumped on the demon in an attempt to distract her and hold her down, but the demon instead plunged a blade right through Vera’s sternum. It wasn’t silver, so she was fine, but Dean didn’t know that.

His careful planning went out the window as he charged, knocking the Knight away from Vera. He fell on top of her as she flickered with a red light, the first blade sticking out of her stomach. She finally stopped moving, and Dean rose, dropping the first blade instantly as he turned to Vera.

The knife had been ripped out of her as the demon had been thrown, so the wound was already healed, but a look of horror crossed her face.

“Dean!” she shouted, rushing forward to catch him as he fell, the blade instead imbedded in the same place on Dean.

“Castiel!” she shouted to the silent room. Sam had fallen to his knees beside the two, but he didn’t know what to do either.

The angel appeared instantly. “What’s wrong?”

“Heal him, quickly!” Vera begged, clutching desperately to Dean as his lungs began to fill with blood. Castiel reappeared instantly by Dean’s side, two fingers already pressed on his forehead, but nothing was happening.

“It’s not working,” Castiel spoke in horror. “The Mark is blocking me from healing him.”

“Hey,” Dean croaked. “I’m still here for the moment.”

“God, no Dean. You can’t die. I just got you back.” Vera was crying steadily, and she didn’t know when she had started. “Please, no.”

“Hey, I’ll be fine.”

“Dean, how can you say that?” Sam finally spoke, his own voice breaking as Castiel furtively tried again to heal the hunter.

Dean didn’t answer, instead reaching out to grab Sam’s hand, but he continued looking at Vera. She was still touching his skin, and she heard a direct thought cut through the pain he was trying to hide.

_Kiss me?_

Vera couldn’t refuse him.

She could pinpoint the exact moment he died, because she suddenly found herself unable to read any of his thoughts.

* * *

 They took his body back to the bunker, setting it down on the bed they had shared only a couple of hours earlier.

Sam disappeared off to find something. Vera didn’t care enough to actually find out what is was, instead choosing to stay with Dean.

She was holding his cold hand and still steadily crying when she heard the first glimmer of a thought ghost across her mind. Her head whipped up to stare at Dean, but then the hand she was holding began to hold back- painfully.

She winced, and then realized that the thoughts were definitely Dean’s, but they were twisted, dark, and evil. His eyes shot open, but instead of the beautiful green, they were pitch black.

He was a demon, and he was smiling cruelly at Vera.

He disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving her alone in a cold and dead room.

Vera managed to stumble out into the hallway. “Sam!”

He thundered up twenty seconds later at a dead sprint. His eyes were red, and Vera could smell alcohol on his breath, but there was a hope in his eyes that Vera would have good news.

“What is it Vera? What happened?” He was out of breath, and Vera almost didn’t want to tell him and destroy his hope, but she knew he needed to know.

“It’s Dean. He opened his eyes, Sam. But he disappeared.”

“What? Did someone take him? How is this possible?”

“No one took him Sam. His eyes were black. He’s a demon.”

* * *

They searched for months. They found lead after lead, but they were always too far behind. Vera began to shift several times a day into the people they were questioning, making sure to get the full story from people who might have forgotten something.

A man named Cole attacked Sam one night, but Vera was able to stop and convince him that Dean had killed his father because he had been a monster that had been killing people. Part of him still wanted revenge, but Vera was confident that part would fade with time.

They ran into a woman who had apparently seen Dean only a day before. She had some choice words for him, and when Vera shifted into her, she understood why. The memories stung, but Vera knew Dean wouldn’t have done it if he had still been human. And besides, the memories of the girl were what finally enabled the two of them to capture Dean and take him back to the bunker.

Vera only hoped that they would be able to cure Dean.

* * *

 Vera ran through the bunker. Dean had broken out of the devils trap somehow, and she knew Sam was somewhere around the halls like she was, but Vera knew she couldn’t get hurt as easily as Sam could. She could hear Dean taunting his brother, giving her a clear path to finding him. Her shifter ears could pinpoint his location with far more clarity and precision than Sam could.

She failed to take into account that he could teleport though if he chose to. She turned a corner, ran three steps, and fell, surprised at the silver katana sticking out of her chest. It remained in place as she collapsed, slicing more of a wound in her chest. She hit the ground with a thud, and cried out as Dean nudged her onto her back with his foot.

He crouched, his black eyes blinking back to startling green, as if somehow he knew that they hurt more.

“Dean…” she whispered, a single tear falling from her eye that she couldn’t stop.

He smiled cruelly, reaching down to pull her up. She screamed as he lifted her, the movement ripping into her wound again. Vera didn’t know how she wasn’t dead yet, and she wished more than anything that she would hurry up and die already, because seeing Dean like this was even more painful.

He shoved her against a wall, leaning in close enough that all Vera could see was his face. “You should have known better than to stay with hunters, Vera. Now look what’s happening to you.” He sneered, but Vera tuned him out, instead focusing on remembering him before he was a demon.

She leaned her head forward and kissed him. It was different than normal, because Dean wasn’t gentle and kind, but rough and angry as he kissed her back. She tried her best to ignore it.

Vera pulled away, feeling her legs collapsing as she lost feeling in them. “I love you, Dean.” She continued to fall until Dean was the only thing holding her up. Tears began to fall more as she remembered the kitsune Alyssa and her brother Alicos.

_He’s the most beautiful and terrifying thing you’ll ever see, and if you ever see him, you should run. His own humanity is a beacon, more like a Siren Song. Monsters are fascinated by him and venture closer than they should, and they dash against his rocks._

_You shall love him and despair._

The words haunted Vera as her vision faded out.

The last thing she saw was his green eyes.

* * *

 Vera woke up in a forest.

She let the werewolf kill her as she cried.


End file.
